1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication systems. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for cooperative multifunctional communication in a wireless communication system.
2. Introduction
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, time slots, codes, and transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems, Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as the United States NAVSTAR Global Positioning System (GPS), the Russian GLONASS, and the European Union's Galileo positioning system.
Mobile devices may have multiple radios such as wide area network radio (WAN), local area radio (LAN) and personal area radio (PAN). The mobile device may be capable of communication and performance of system-specific operations within more than one of the communication systems. For example, two mobile devices may be capable of initiating a data transfer operation with one another within a Personal Area Network (PAN) via Bluetooth, and may also be capable of determining their respective geographic coordinates via GNSS. If incapable of cooperation, the two mobile devices would each have to receive and process GNSS signals in order to determine their geographic coordinates. Such redundant processing results in unnecessary power consumption. Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for a method and apparatus for cooperative multifunctional communication so as to reduce redundant processing and extend battery life.